Temporary notes:
This directory was staged on November 15, 2024, starting with a copy and quick edit of the Mid-Year Poll directory. Consider it still under construction. Please point out any errors or confusion, and ask any questions.
Voting for the 2024 Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll is now open. Results will be posted at ArtsFuse and here, probably the first week of January, 2025.
This is where the Poll results will be published (after January 1, 2025). In the meantime, voters should consult the following files for more information:
While those files give you lots of information, including detailed reasoning on specific albums, I tried to boil all this down here:
Initial ballot invitations were sent out to people on the jazzpoll [at] hullworks.net email list on November 15, with a second mailing on November 20. Deadline for voting is Friday, December 20.
If you have voted in previous polls but didn't receive an invite, please use the invitation link above. If you haven't voted in past polls but are an active jazz critic or journalist, we would like to hear from you. It would save some time if you went straight to the invitation and sent in a ballot. If you see this and know someone who should be voting, please refer them to this page and invitation.This notice will be removed before the results are finally posted (although some will remain under Additional Notes below). Additional files may be added along the way.
Francis Davis founded The Annual Jazz Critics Poll in 2006. It was published by The Village Voice through 2011. It has since been picked up by Rhapsody (2011-12), NPR (2913-20), and ArtsFuse (since 2021). The Poll was supervised by Davis through 2021, with various degrees of help from Tom Hull, who keeps it going, and manages this website. Hull wrote a history/memoir of the Poll up through 2022 here.
Ballot invitations were sent out on November 20 (see letter. Deadline for voting is Friday, December 20. The Poll will be published by ArtsFuse shortly after January 1, 2025.
One change to the website as of 2023 is that album titles in the complete results and ballots files have a link (look for →) which will print out a list of everyone who voted for the album. From there, you can get to the ballots for each voter.
In 2024, we ran a Mid-Year Poll. The results of that poll have no bearing on this Poll, which covers all of 2024.
The following pieces were initially published in Arts Fuse:
Some pieces are also archived locally:
The 100 voter ballots are presented in batches of 20 ballots:
The complete list of voting critics, with links to their individual ballots, is here.
Methodology
Voters were asked to pick up to 10 New Releases (albums first released in 2024, or 2023 releases the voter didn't hear until 2024, consisting entirely of music recorded within the last ten years). If the list is unranked (preferably alphabetized by artist), each album is given 1 point. If the list is ranked, each album is given points according to rank: 1: 3.0; 2: 2.4; 3: 2.0; 4: 1.8; 5: 1.6; 6: 1.4; 7: 1.3; 8: 1.2; 9: 1.1; 10: 1.0.
Voters were also asked to pick up to 5 Rara Avis (albums released in 2024, or 2023 releases the voter didn't hear until 2024, consisting of previously released music of any age, or or previously unreleased music recorded 10+ years ago (in 2014 or earlier). If the list is unranked (preferably alphabetized by artist), each album is given 1 point. If the list is ranked, each album is given points according to rank: 1: 2.0; 2: 1.6; 3: 1.4; 4: 1.2; 5: 1.0.
The Poll also asks voters for picks in categories that often get overlooked in top ten lists: Vocal Jazz, Latin Jazz, and Debut. Up through 2023, we asked voters to pick one album in each category (the top-ranked album in the top-ten, if there is one). Starting in 2024, voters may name up to three records in each category, in addition to any designated records they picked in their top-ten. Albums in these lists are given one point each, regardless of ranking order.
The totals are sorted by points (the first bold number in the tables), with more votes (the second bold number, in parentheses) used as a tiebreaker.
Critics were asked to refrain from voting for any CD in which they were directly involved as performer, producer, annotator, or in any capacity whatsoever.
Additional Notes
Notes for Voters: We've written up some additional notes to help voters, especially where questions may arise on definitions, including album eligibility. This information is not classified "top secret," but is probably uninteresting unless you have been invited to vote.
We should establish a contact link here. Until then, you may use this one, which will reach Tom Hull.